Key TakeawaysAbout 90% of people with heart disease consume too much sodium, a new study shows.The researchers found that many heart disease patients consume double the daily recommended sodium intake.Experts say it’s hard to cut back on sodium, in part because it’s found in so many processed foods and beverages.

Key Takeaways

About 90% of people with heart disease consume too much sodium, a new study shows.The researchers found that many heart disease patients consume double the daily recommended sodium intake.Experts say it’s hard to cut back on sodium, in part because it’s found in so many processed foods and beverages.

On average, people withheart diseaseconsume twice the recommended amount of daily sodium, regardless of their socioeconomic status, new research shows.

The study, which has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, was presented at The American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session earlier this month.

“The significance of this research lies in its focus on a group of adults with cardiovascular disease, a population likely motivated to adhere to sodium guidelines and potentially educated on recommended intake due to healthcare interactions,” lead study authorElsie Kodjoe, MD, MPH, an internal medicine resident at Piedmont Athens Regional Hospital in Athens, Georgia, told Verywell. Nevertheless, the study found nearly 90% of people in this category often consume excess sodium.

How Much Sodium You Need Per Day

How Excess Sodium Affects People With Heart Disease

Eating too much sodium can raise your blood pressure, which can raise the risk of aheart attackandstroke.Because of this, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends an ideal limit of 1,500 milligrams of sodium each day, Kodjoe said.

How Much Sodium Should You Consume Each Day?The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, the same limit recommended in theDietary Guidelines for Americans. This is roughly equivalent to one teaspoon. However, the AHA suggests a stricter additional “ideal” limit of 1,500 milligrams per day for most adults—about a third of a teaspoon.

How Much Sodium Should You Consume Each Day?

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, the same limit recommended in theDietary Guidelines for Americans. This is roughly equivalent to one teaspoon. However, the AHA suggests a stricter additional “ideal” limit of 1,500 milligrams per day for most adults—about a third of a teaspoon.

The participants had all been diagnosed with heart failure, a heart attack, angina, or coronary artery disease, and they completed questionnaires on how much sodium they consumed. (It’s important to note that “sodium” and “salt” aren’t interchangeable,Jim Liu, MD, a cardiologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told Verywell. “The salt that we consume and are familiar with is made up of sodium and chloride,” Liu said. “When we ingest salt, the sodium and chloride are broken down and get absorbed separately.”)

The researchers found that 89% of the participants consumed too much sodium. The average intake among study participants was about 3,000 milligrams a day—or double the AHA’s ideal recommended limit. Though the study focused only on people with heart disease, sodium intake has been reported to be high among all Americans aged 14 and older.

Kodjoe’s team also wanted to assess whether socioeconomic status influenced sodium intake among the study participants. “Surprisingly, there was no correlation found between income-to-poverty ratio and sodium intake, indicating a universal challenge across socioeconomic groups in adhering to guidelines,” Kodjoe said.

The researchers behind the new report noted that a limitation of the study was that the data they used came from questionnaires. Therefore, the data may have been subject to recall bias—or, in other words, the study participants may not have remembered and reported exactly how much sodium they consumed.

Future studies on the topic should include data from 24-hour urine sodium measurements, which are considered the gold standard for analyzing a person’s sodium levels, per the researchers.

Is Sodium Salt? What You Need to Know for Your Health

Which Foods Are High in Sodium?

The top 10 sources of sodium for Americans include:

However, the amounts of sodium found in these foods can vary widely depending on what types of ingredients are used and where they’re prepared, experts said.

37 Foods High in Sodium to Eat Less of

Challenges in Reducing Sodium Intake

“For one, sodium is prevalent in so many foods,” Liu said. “Most processed foods and drinks have some degree of sodium in them. Some of them are the ones that people may not typically realize as having sodium, such as soft drinks, [and] salt is used in seasoning to improve taste, so a lot of people are used to consuming it to help their food taste better.”

It can be difficult for people to change their behavior (and feed themselves in ways that reduce sodium intake) even after a heart disease diagnosis,Susan Albers-Bowling, PsyD, a psychologist at Cleveland Clinic, told Verywell. “It’s not a lack of willpower [that causes us to] struggle to change behavior,” she said. “Our bodies are wired to stick to the status quo…For many of us, the biggest challenge is dealing with the inner voice that puts up the stop sign such as ‘What’s the point?’ or ‘It doesn’t matter’ or ‘I can’t do it.’”

But it’s important for all people to manage their sodium intake, not just those at risk of heart issues. “It’s crucial for everyone, whether they have hypertension or not, to be vigilant about their consumption to mitigate risk of developing hypertension and worsening heart conditions,” Kodjoe said.

She recommended the following tips for reducing sodium intake:

Fruits and vegetables are key because some—including bananas—are rich in potassium, which may contribute to lowering blood pressure, Kodjoe said. Some research suggests drinking coffee and/or water with foods high in sodium might also be beneficial, as you might excrete sodium through urine, but experts said the most important tactic in reducing sodium intake is aiming to consume less of the nutrient, rather than consuming more of certain foods and beverages to counteract its effects.

Policymakers should do their part to address this public health issue too, Kodjoe said. They should “implement policies to reduce sodium levels in processed and packaged foods during production,” she explained. “Collaborating with food manufacturers to reformulate products and restaurants to reduce sodium contents in meals can have a significant impact on population-wide sodium intake and improve cardiovascular health outcomes.”

What This Means For YouMany people with heart disease consume too much sodium, even though it can exacerbate heart conditions and lead to increased risks of heart attack and stroke, new research has found. The study concluded that sodium intake is too high among people with heart disease from all socioeconomic backgrounds. If you’re looking for ways to reduce sodium intake, you should prepare meals at home whenever possible, avoid highly processed foods, read food labels and avoid foods with more than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving, and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, experts said.

What This Means For You

Many people with heart disease consume too much sodium, even though it can exacerbate heart conditions and lead to increased risks of heart attack and stroke, new research has found. The study concluded that sodium intake is too high among people with heart disease from all socioeconomic backgrounds. If you’re looking for ways to reduce sodium intake, you should prepare meals at home whenever possible, avoid highly processed foods, read food labels and avoid foods with more than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving, and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, experts said.

8 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Heart disease and stroke.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Sodium intake and health.

American Heart Association.How much sodium should I eat per day?.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.About the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Food and Drug Administration.FDA issues sodium reduction final guidance.

National Institutes of Health.Recall bias.

Yu H, Yang T, Gao P, et al.Caffeine intake antagonizes salt sensitive hypertension through improvement of renal sodium handling.Sci Rep. 2016;6:25746. doi:10.1038/srep25746

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